Four more local restaurants land segments on You Gotta Eat Here!

You Gotta Eat Here! host John Catucci will sample two Windsor-area eateries - Smoke & Spice Southern Barbecue and Motor Burger - for new episodes to be aired in the next few months. (Peter J. Thompson / Postmedia News files)

That brings the regional total up to eight restaurants. Motor Burger, Smoke and Spice Southern Barbecue, Bubi’s Awesome Eats and Tunnel Bar-B-Q have also earned the You Gotta Eat Here! stamp of approval in previous seasons.

Rino Bortolin, owner/chef at Rino’s Kitchen and Ale House, prepares a pork loin to be served as the third course in a four-course dinner during a butcher demonstration dinner at Rino’s Kitchen and Ale House, Wednesday, February 27, 2013. (DAX MELMER/The Windsor Star)

Hot on the heels of the publication of his first locavore cookbook, Bortolin said this latest news shows “a lot of things are clicking for us.”

You Gotta Eat Here! runs in 30-minute episodes each featuring three Canadian restaurants.

Host John Catucci pokes around the kitchens and dining rooms of these businesses in search of the best comfort food and client favourites and each chef gets to showcase popular or unique dishes.

Supervising producer Rachel Horvath said the show’s researchers comb through hundreds of potential candidates — some suggested by viewers, others found through travel guides and websites — before choosing the 78 that make up each season’s roster.

For a city of Windsor’s size, it’s unusual to have so many restaurants featured in the show’s first three seasons, she said. The average might be two or three eateries. “Eight seems to me to speak really highly of the Windsor food scene,” Horvath said.

Filming is already completed for Jack’s Gastropub and St. Joachim Diner, while Rino’s and The Twisted Apron will host camera crews in early this month for two days of filming each. All four restaurants will be featured in the 2014 season of the show.

The Twisted Apron chef Wes Van Beek, who has worked in kitchens all over Canada, said seeing so many local restaurants featured on the show is “a vote of confidence” for Windsor.

“It’s good for the city,” Van Beek said. “(It shows) we have more to offer than what other people in Ontario think we have to offer.”

Van Beek said he does not yet know which of his dishes will be featured in the episode because the menu at The Twisted Apron changes frequently.

Horvath said that the Walkerville restaurant has a reputation for turning out unique savoury brunch dishes, so viewers can expect it to get attention for plates such as its mac ‘n’ cheese eggs Benedict.

And without giving too much away, Horvath said it’s likely the show will feature Rino’s slow-cooked meats and pasta dishes since the downtown restaurant is well known for its classic comfort dishes.

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